ABSTRACT
In the sparse justification given for the National Curriculum there are certain key phrases. The two most significant are those concerned with ‘entitlement’ and with the curriculum as ‘broad and balanced’. Together, these phrases imply a vast body of knowledge that covers the whole spectrum of different subjects, facts and modes of thought. Whilst we should at least remind ourselves of the complexity of the relationship between a particular subject and its concomitant learning styles and skillsthe bent of mind associated with a ‘subject’ or even imposed by itmost of the discussions of the National Curriculum pass such complexity by. This in itself expresses something of the nature of the curriculum as imposed and, whilst pupils are equally aware of the complicated nature of ‘subjects’, we will here deal with the idea of the curriculum in an almost monolithic way as the way in which it is presented in schools.
